Paradise Valley

PUTTING RITZ ON HOLD? Citizens in Paradise Valley, Arizona, have forced a referendum on the city's approval of a new Ritz-Carlton resort there.

NORTH DAKOTA TAX CUT HAS SIGS: According to its sponsor, turn-in begins in two weeks on an initiative that would cut income tax rates in North Dakota.

UTAH HIGH COURT BARS REFERENDUM: Citizens in Draper, Utah, had wanted to force a referendum on a proposed light-rail route through their community. But the Utah Supreme Court has ruled that the approval did not change the law and thus is not subject to referendum.

ARIZONA HEAT: The attacks have begun against an Arizona initiative that would prohibit the state from adopting single payer health care.

NOT ENOUGH SIGS FOR ANTI-TRIAL LAWYER MEASURES: Two initiatives targeting trial lawyers failed to get the signatures to make the ballot in Oregon.

There is a flood of new ballot measures on local development headed for municipal ballots in California. News of four such measures is below. I'll be moderating a Zocalo LA panel on this phenomenon on May 27 at 7 p.m. at the Autry Museum in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.

Voters in LA county will decide whether to charge themselves a global warming fee.

The Conejo Valley teachers union sides with Home Depot, and opposes a ballot initiative backed by a local chain of hardware stores that would limit big box development in Thousand Oaks.

A classic Santa Monica battle over a proposed ballot measure that would limit the size and imprint of commercial development.

Here's a report on a new local ballot initiative filed in an attempt to limit growth in Grass Valley. (That's in Nevada County, northern California).

And a bonus item from Arizona, cultural colony of California: Paradise Valley can't approve a Ritz without a referendum.